HackMD is great for collaborating on markdown in the browser — but you edit the raw source in a split pane, and your docs live on their servers. Pinrom Docs lets you see formatting, not syntax, and keeps your files as plain .md on your own disk, offline.
No tool is best at everything. If these matter most to you, HackMD may be the better choice.
Multiple people editing the same document live, right now. Pinrom’s real-time collaboration is still coming, so on shipped co-editing HackMD is simply ahead.
It runs in any browser on any machine, with a slide mode for presentations. Pinrom has a web app now too, but its home is the desktop.
For teams writing technical and developer documentation together in the open, HackMD is purpose-built and well-loved. That fit is real.
| Pinrom Docs | HackMD | |
|---|---|---|
| Format as you type, not raw syntax | ✓ | ✕ split-pane source |
| Files on your own disk | ✓ | ✕ cloud-only |
| Works offline | ✓ | ✕ |
| Real-time co-editing | ~ cloud, coming | ✓ |
| Private share link | ✓ private, revocable | ✓ |
| No account needed to write | ✓ | ✕ |
| Rich paste from Docs / Word / AI | ✓ | ~ |
| Price | Free | Free tier · paid for more |
HackMD asks you to stare at the source: it’s a split-pane raw markdown editor, and everything lives on their servers. That’s the trade for browser-native, real-time collaboration — and for some teams it’s the right one.
Pinrom takes the other path. You write in a clean document where you see formatting, not syntax, and the file stays as .md on your own disk, working offline with no account. Sharing is live as an opt-in cloud step — the person you send a link to needs no account to read — and real-time collaboration is coming. Neither is the price of entry.
If you need live co-editing in a browser today, HackMD has it now and Pinrom’s is still coming. But if you’d rather your docs be .md files on your own disk that work offline, download Pinrom and write in it first — no account, no upload.